Machine for sawing and grooving shakes



(No Model.) 2 sheets-f-sheet 2.

F. M. UOVELL. v MACHINE FOR SAWING AND GROOVING SHAKES. No. 256,464.Patented Apr.18,1882.

4 Fig.3.

llllllllllllllllllllllll I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

FRANK COVELL, OF, GLENWOOD, ASSIGNOR TO ADOLPHUS GERMON, OF

' SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

MACHINE FOR SAWING AND GROOVING SHAKE S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,464, dated April18, 1882,

Application filed May 27, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. COVELL, of Glenwood, Santa Cruz county,State of California, have made and invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Sawing and Grooving Shakes; and I do herebydeclare that the followingisafull, clear, and

' exact description of my said invention, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

movement of the carriages, and for feeding down the bolts at the end ofeach backward movement of the carriage to give the required thickness tothe shake.

It relates, also, to the general construction and combination of partsand mechanism whereby the machine isrendered adjustable and made capableto perform avariety of work, all of which will bemore fully set forthhereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings herein referred to, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is across-section through the lines as m, Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are detailviews, showing the feeding mechanism and the means by which it isautomatically thrown out of gear. Figs. 6 and 7 show the mechanism bywhich the feed of one carriage is thrown into gear from the movements ofthe other carriage. Fig. 8 shows the device for feeding down the blockor bolt in the carriage.

AAB represent any suitable frame-work, in which are bearings for theseveral shafts and spindles that actuate the feed mechanism and run thecutting and finishing tools.

C is the upright spindle that carries the circular saw D, and E is theprincipal drivingshaft, on which are the three large band-wheels orsheaves F F F. The center one of these sheaves, F, runs the saw-spindleC, while the others, F F give motion to the short mandrels g 9 thatcarry the grooving or finishing tools. Small pulleys h h, fixed on theends of these mandrels, receive the belts i i. This one shaft Etherefore gives motion to all the cutting and finishing tools forworking up the block or bolt.

The feeding mechanism is operated from the counter-shaft J, which isdriven from a small pulley, k, on the saw-spindle, and the belt 1running thence to the sheave S; but as the speed of the spindleis muchgreater than could be used for the-feed, I gear the small shaft N intothe feed-pinion shaft P by employing the gear-wheel and pinion q r, andthus reduce the motion of the feed-pinion Q. This motion, however, canbe increased or diminished by using the cone-pulleys S S, from which runthe belts t t up to the sheaves m of the short shafts N.

The bolt-carryin g frames or carriages V V I are arranged one on eachside of the machine, so that, the sawbein g in the center, the carriagesapproach and pass over it on opposite sides and in ditferent'directions,or each against the cutting movement of the saw. The carriages consistof a rectangular frame, with boxes or hearings to w to hold the V-shapedor flanged wheels X X, that support the carriage on the rails Y Y, andwith a clamping device to con line the bolt and holdit in place at therequired distance below the level of the frame to receive the cuttingand finishing action of the tools. Each carriage V or V hasits separatetrack or set of rails Y or Y, and they are set at a slight inclination,soas'to run the carriage during the feeding movement on a slightascending' grade, which is required for producin g the slanting cut ofthe shake from the bolt, and which could not be effected other wisewithout runningthe saw out of a horizontal plane. To give thisinclination of the out, therefore, I set up the forward ends of each setof track or rails in cutting shakes. This feature is not shown in thedrawings. Upon the side of each carriage, and in line with the pinion Q,is a fixed rack, L, that when in gear with this pinion causes thecarriage V to move regularly forward and feed the bolt against the saw,and when the pinion is disengaged therefrom it leaves the carriage freeto be drawn back by the operation of the cord and weight Z, attached tothe rearend of the carriage and running over a pulley on the outside ofthe frame.

In order to throw the feed-pinion Q into and out of gear at the requiredtimes, I employ the construction and combination of parts shown indetail in Figs. 4 and 5, and operating as follows: The pinion Q is fixedon a short shaft, P, which is connected by means of a knucklejoint,f,with the shaft of the gear-wheel r, so that the pinion can have a shortvertical movement toward and away from the rack of thecarriage. Theotherorfreeend of thispinion-shaft is held in a sliding box or bearing,0, on the side of the frame A, so that by means of the lever G, pivotedto the side frame at d and attached at the end 0 to the shaft, thispinion can be moved up and down and thrown into and out of gear with therack L. The pinion Q is held normally out of gear by means of thecounter-weightb upon the lever, and it is held up in gear by thetripping-catch H on the side of the frame. When the longer end of thelever G is depressedit engages with the notched end of the catch H andis held down by it, so that the pinion will be in gear with the rack Land the carriage will be fed forward as long as this condition of theparts continues. This catch H, however, is so placed that the end of thecarriage shall strike it when the end of the cut made by the saw isreached, and by throwing it back from the end of the lever G at thistime the pinion Q is caused to drop down out of gear with the rack. Inthis manner each carriage automatically and instantly disengages itselfand stops its feed movement at the end of the out.

To throw the feed mechanism of the carriage into gear, I employ thedevice shown in Figs. 6 and 7 as a simple means for causing one carriageto throw the other one into operation. By means of a pivoted lever, I,fixed on the under side of the frame below the carriages,andattached atone end to and beneath the sliding bearing 0 of the pinion Q, I causethe opposite carriage to lift the pinion Q upward into position and ingear with the rack L and throw the end of the lever Gr by the samemovement underneath the catch H. This lever I, while connected with thesliding hearing of one pinion, Q, extends across the machine to theother carriage, so that the upright arm a on the end of the lever shallproject in the path of the carriage to be struck and forceddown byitatthe proper moment, and in this manner throw the feed of the othercarriage into gear. One carriage, therefore, is made to control themovements of the other carriage and setitsfeed in motion at the propertime to present its bolt to the saw as the belt of the first carriage ismoving away from the saw, this being effected by setting the levers I ata point in the path of the carriages, which is at or near the end of theforward movement of each carriage, so that the feed movement of onecarriage takes place as the similar movement of the other carriage isbeing completed, and the saw is not subjected to the double work andstrain of cuttinginto both bolts at once during the heaviest part of thework, but only during the beginning of the cut in one bolt and thetermination of the cut in the other bolt.

Each carriage is provided with a clamping device for holding the bolt inplace while being fed to the saw, and in connection therewith anadjustable tripping mechanism for releasing the bolt and allowing it todrop down upon the gage-bar G2 at the end of each backward movementofthe carriage. This is clearly shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings.

At one end of the carriage is a fixed jaw,p, upon a cross-bar at thebottom, and at the opposite end a movable jaw, s, which can slide backand forth in guides s s. This jaw sis held and operated by the bar 0,the lever o, the connecting-rod q, and the lever t at the opposite orrear end of the carriage. By means of the spring a, connected to thelever t, the slidingjaw is moved and held against the end of the bolt,so as to clamp it firmly in place within the carriage, and by means ofthe stop 10 on the upright arm as the lever t is pressed back as thecarriage reaches the end of its backward movementand the boltreleasedfrom the jaws p s and allowed to drop down upon the gage-bar G Theforward movement of the carriage, when it takes place, draws the lever taway from the stop w and permits the spring a to bring the jaw .9against the end of the bolt, and thus clamp it in place within thecarriage.

The finishing-tools are those driven or operated by the shafts ormandrels gg, and acting upon the under side of the shake or stuff outfrom the bolt by the saw. In the machine shown in the drawings thesemandrels are provided with grooving saws for cutting the grooves in theshakes; but by slipping them off the mandrel and substitutingplaner-heads the machine can be made to plane or finish the undersurface of the cut stuff. The machine can be adjusted also to cut lathsfrom the block or bolt by simply fixing a set of small circular saws atequal distances apart upon the mandrel, so as to divide the cut slab orpiece by a number of vertical cuts and separate it into strips of therequired width.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for cutting and finishing shakes and other articles froma block or bolt, the combination together of the horizontallyrnnningcircular saw, the tool-carrying mandrels g g, the reciprocatingcarriages V or V for holding and feeding the boltsin an alternatemanner, or one in advance of the other upon opposite sides of the saw,theintermittcnt feed device Q L GH, and the mechanism for throw- IIO ingthe feed of one carriageinto gear from the movements of the othercarriage, all substantially as herein described, to operate as setforth.

2. In combination with the saw and the travprojectin the paths of thecarriages, the lever G, and its catch H, substantially as described.

Witness my hand and seal.

FRANK MARION COVELL. [L 8.]

eling carriages having feed-racks on them, the Witnesses: pinions Q, thesliding hearings of their shafts, MORGAN UOVELL, the levers I, havingupright arms arranged to W. H. GOVELL.

